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 EXCLUSIVE REPORTS 'Beep beep' Tanning guru goes after patent infringers in unconventional manner David Wethe Staff Writer |
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| When defending the four-year-old patent
for his automated sunless tanning booth, inventor Tom Laughlin
looks to the crafty Roadrunner in the Warner Brothers cartoon
for advice. "The Roadrunner knows there's a lot of other ways to get that truck off the road without standing in front of it and waving it down," Laughlin said. |
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In the same way, Laughlin uses what he calls two
unconventional approaches to stopping patent infringement . After inventing his automated sunless tanning booth in 1997 and patenting it two years later, Laughlin estimates he's filed more than 50 patent-infringement lawsuits naming at least 100 companies and individuals. Unlike conventional tanning beds that use ultraviolet rays, Laughlin's invention sprays a fine mist of tanning solution onto the skin to give the appearance of a tan without the harm of UV exposure. |
| Laughlin said he has confiscated two unlicensed
booths from undisclosed tanning-salon chains based in the Midwest
and Southwest and is going after three more manufacturers. |
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| The standard approach, Laughlin said, is to send
a letter to an alleged "infringer" telling the person
to stop. But the problem with that, he said, is the company could
quickly file suit against him for sending a threatening letter. Laughlin sues the alleged infringer right away and posts the lawsuit on his Web site. Internet search engines pick up the information, and potential investors see the suit when doing their research. |
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| Bob Chiaviello, a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski's
intellectual property section in Dallas, said he doesn't know
of too many clients who will go that far. Because Laughlin's patent is intended to be broad -- covering everything from the making of the booth to its operation -- he said no one else is allowed to build an automated sunless tanning booth without a license from the patent holder, Grapevine-based Laughlin Products Inc. Mystic Tan, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Palm Beach Tan, is the only other company licensed to build an automated booth besides Laughlin's subsidiary, Mist-On Systems. Laughlin also goes after tanning salons that buy unlicensed booths, but said patents are bad for entrepreneurs. |
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"A lot of people question the usefulness of
a patent," he said. "By definition of a patent, you
have to disclose everything that's required for a reasonable person
to patent the item. So, you have to tell (someone) exactly how
to do it." Chris Rentzel, head of the trial group for Bracewell & Patterson's Dallas office, said it's hard to know when an inventor is being ripped off. "Here, it strikes me that there's a risk of thinly capitalized competitors just springing up anywhere and everywhere taking advantage of this technology," he said. |
| According to a 2001 survey of patent lawsuits in
Texas, each side will spend an average of $500,000 to go through
a suit with less than $1 million at risk. Laughlin says he has a six-digit "war chest," mostly from the license royalties, that he uses as a patent defense fund. |
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Laughlin spends about half his time on patents
and the other half on his Mist-On Systems, which garners about
$10 million a year through the sale of automated sunless tanning
booths.
As a result, Laughlin has had to learn a lot about patents. "One slip up, and it could be fatal for you. Alligator wrestling's kind of like that," he said. "You're not allowed too many mistakes." |
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| Contact DBJ writer David Wethe at dwethe@bizjournals.com or (817) 693-0025. |
© 2003 American City Business
Journals Inc.
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